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More KC women freezing eggs for future pregnancy

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Emily Ryan always imagined having two jobs: a nurse and a mother.

“Babies and children have always been a big part of my life,” she said. 

She’s made one a reality -- she’s an neonatal intensive care unit nurse and pediatric nurse practitioner.

One of them isn’t happening as quickly as she hoped.

“Watching your friends get married and have kids, and then you not, has been difficult," she said. "It's been great to do something about it in the meantime."

One day before her 32nd birthday, Ryan made the choice to see a doctor about freezing her eggs.

 

More Kansas City women are choosing to pause their biological clock through a fertility treatment that allows them to freeze their eggs.

 

She worked with Dr. Dan Gehlbach, the founder and director of the Midwest Reproductive Center located in North Kansas City and Olathe.

"We've seen this tremendous improvement rate. Things we couldn't do years ago, we can do with great success now,” Gehlbach said of the procedure.

Egg freezing has grown increasingly popular among women. 

"It's the same process as IVF [vitro fertilization], but we stop at the point of recovering the eggs," Gehlbach said. "The woman goes off the medications and she usually recovers in a very short period of time. I think it's a very safe and effective process.” 

Whether his patients are lacking a partner, building a career or battling an illness, like cancer, the reason for freezing varies.

Previous story: Freezing your eggs -- the costs and other realities

The goal, though, is always the same: to preserve strong, quality eggs before they decline over time.

Gehlbach retrieved 28 eggs from Ryan’s ovaries. Twenty of them were frozen in a liquid nitrogen tank. They’ll sit until she decides to use them.

"It's possible that I would have regret not doing this," said Ryan. "I will never regret doing it. It's just an insurance policy for me."

Egg freezing is becoming part of genuine insurance policies for some major companies and the military.

The Pentagon announced last month it will pay for egg and sperm freezing for active duty members. Tech giants like Apple, Intel and Facebook are covering the cost for their employees.

 

One day before her 32nd birthday she made the choice to see a doctor about freezing her eggs. She worked with Dr. Dan Gehlbach, M.D., the Founder and Director of the Midwest Reproductive Center located in North Kansas City and Olathe.

This is encouraging news for Gehlbach.

“At least they're thinking in terms of their employees and their benefits and realizing that reproductive health is important to everyone," he said.

The procedure is just as intense as in vitro fertilization. It includes labs, ultrasounds and nearly two weeks of injections.

Gehlbach said the average cost for a woman with no insurance is about $10,000.

Ryan paid roughly $7,000 up front and will keep paying a yearly storage fee. For her, the price is worth her new-found peace of mind.

"It's been an empowering experience for me. I don't have to worry so much anymore. Those eggs will always be 32,” she said. "I still want to get married and have a family like everyone else does, but at least I know that if there is a problem, I have those there and they are ready to go. That part is done."

 

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Lexi Sutter can be reached at alexandra.sutter@kshb.com.

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